This is probably the easiest and most fun dish to prepare. I usually eat these salad rolls with fish sauce simply because I almost always have some pre-made in the refrigerator. The excellent hoisin-peanut sauce with the coconut milk here is from my friend Thanh Tran. She also provided a list of optional ingredients: soba noodles, jicama, grilled chicken breast, Korean seaweed, toasted sesame seeds, and fried tofu.
The Japanese dashi-based sauce for cold soba noodles also makes an interesting alternate dipping sauce.

Cabbage and Eggs
Vietnamese

 ½ small head of cabbage, discard the hard dense core, slice the cabbage thinly into shreds between one-eight and one-quarter of an inch wide
 1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into mini batons the size of match sticks
 3 Tbsp oil

egg mix, beat well in a bowl
 2 large eggs
 2 Tbsp fish sauce

This is not only the simplest dish in the book, but also one of the most subtly flavored dishes. The cabbage provides the sense of freshness and sweetness. The carrot gives the earthy counterpoint and color. The eggs bring creaminess and protein. The fish sauce simply transform all the other ingredients. I’d be very hard-pressed to think of another 4-humble-ingredients dish that has this much flavor and nutrition.

1. Heat oil in large pan or wok, coating entire cooking surface with oil.
2. Add cabbage and stir fry 5 minutes on medium heat, turning slowly and steadily to keep cabbage from burning
3. Add carrot and continue stir fry for 4 minutes.
4. Add egg mix and stir evenly into cabbage and carrot.
5. Cook until done. Test by tasting cabbage which should be soft with the main stems still having a slight crunch. Adjust with fish sauce for desired saltiness.

My mother often had to feed a family of eight on a few dollars a meal. This was her answer: a whole head of cabbage, a few eggs, and a carrot. Sometimes, I get choked up making this dish and remembering how hard she worked to feed so many of us on so little. I’ll be cooking and eating this dish the rest of my days.

Traditionally, this dish is stir-fried in about ½ cup of oil or lard. Eggplant has sponge-like quality. It can easily absorb twice its weight in oil, and it takes a considerable time to cook. I use the microwave to reduce the cooking time by two-third and minimize amount of oil used. The flavor profile is sweet, salty, and spicy. The eggplant can also be thoroughly stir-fried until it breaks down completely into a mush.

1. Microwave eggplant on high for 5 minutes.
2. Heat oil in pan, coating entire cooking surface with oil. Sauté garlic and onion.
3. Add semi-cooked eggplant and stir fry on high heat for 3 minutes.
4. Add chili, sugar, and fish and continue to stir fry on medium heat for 5 minutes to allow flavors to meld, adding a little water as necessary.
5. Taste and add fish sauce or sugar as necessary. Serve.

Use a large pot, big enough to line all the spare ribs on the bottom in a single layer.

This homey dish can also be prepared with the two-fire method (see claypot fish recipe). The long simmer as described here will make the meat “fall off the bone” tender. For a firmer meat with the same flavor intensity, after step #6, take pot off heat and let cool to room temperature. Add ½ cup of water and simmer covered again until sauce reduces down to a thick gravy once more.
1. Trim off excess fat from ribs. Cut spareribs into individual bite size segments.
2. Heat pot with oil and lightly sauté the garlic. Remove from heat.
3. Put spareribs into pot, in a single layer. Add sauce mix.
4. Add sufficient water to cover spareribs. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to lowest possible simmer. Cover and simmer for 90 minutes.
5. Check frequently to make sure that fluid has not boiled off completely (and burning the ribs). Stir gently once.
6. When liquid has reduced to a thick sauce (roughly ¼ inch deep at bottom of pot), taste and adjust to preference by adding coconut caramel, chili, black peppers, and fish sauce, in small increments. Stir gently to turn and coat spareribs on both sides.
7. Add 1 cup of water and continue to simmer for 30-50 minutes, until nearly all fluids except for oils and thick gravy remains at the bottom of pot.
8. Skim off excess oil and serve.

Notes: Choose pot large enough so that all the fish pieces can be lined in a single layer at the bottom. If using filets or fish with low fat content like trout or snapper, add 3 oz of pork belly (sliced) into pot by laying pork under fish.

*Recommended fish are baramundi, tilapia, and catfish. Acceptable fish are trout, snapper, and grouper. Most similar white-meat fish with good fat content are ideal. For deeper flavors, use whole fish rather than filets.
1. Put ingredients into pot in the following order: garlic, chili, fish, and sauce mix. Add enough water to just barely cover the fish.
2. Bring to a boil on medium heat for 1 minute. Lower heat and simmer gently for 20-30 minutes until roughly ¼ to ½ cup of sauce remains in the pot.
3. Adjust sauce to taste by adding more fish sauce, chili, and/or coconut caramel (add in small increments and taste again). Simmer 2 minutes. Turn off heat and serve.
4. Optional: use 2-fires technique to deepen flavors. Let pot rest until it reaches room temperature (refrigerate to shorten time). Carefully, turn each piece of fish over. Add ¾ to 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil on medium heat and then simmer on low heat (about 20minutes) until sauce reduces to ½ cup once more. Plate, garnish with chopped spring onions (optional), and serve.

Sides: julienne green mango or green papaya

Pineapple chunks, pieces of fresh coconut meat, or sugar cane batons can be also be added to the pot for variety.

*Although this Cambodian recipe generally uses catfish, almost any type of white meat fish will work. Some fish I’ve tried with good results are cod, snapper, grouper, tilapia, and baramundi.

1. Pour aromatic mix into blender or small food processor. Blend thoroughly until sauce is very smooth. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a frying pan. On medium heat, fry fish pieces, 3-4 minutes per side depending on thickness of filets. Fish should have a nice golden crust with some whiteness showing. Set aside on paper towel to drain off excess oil (if possible keep warm in toaster oven or under heat lamp). Discard oil from pan.
3. Use same pan to simmer blended aromatic mix on low heat, stirring constantly, until fragrant (3-5 minutes).
4. Add coconut milk and bell peppers. Simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Pour sauce into a deep serving dish. Arrange fish pieces on top and serve.

This rich and succulent dish goes well with fried morning glories or steamed vegetables.

Pear Tart w/ Vanilla Crème Anglaise
Pastry Crust:
 1 ¾ cups flour
 5 Tablespoons shortening
 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
 ¼ cup sugar
 Zest of 1 lemon
 1 egg
 3 Tablespoons ice cold water
Combine flour, sugar lemon zest into food processor. Pulse 10 1-second pulses to combine. Drop the shortening into the flour mixture in small dollops. Pulse 5 1-seconds pulses to combine. Add butter and pulse another 5 1-second pulses to combine. Mixture should resemble pea-sized crumbles. Add egg and water and mix until a ball forms (another 5 1-second pulses). Turn onto plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes or so to rest.
Pears:
 1-2 pears, halved and cores removed and sliced into 1/8” slices
 ¼ cup sugar
Custard:
 1 egg
 ¼ cup sugar
 ¾ cup ½ and ½
 ¼ cup pear flavored brandy
 ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Beat eggs and sugar until light and pale. Whisk in ½ & ½ until combined. Whisk in brandy and nutmeg.
Roll out pastry crust into a 12 inch circle. Place crust into tart pan and remove excess crust. Bake in a preheated oven to 425°F for 10-12 minutes, until crust is set and starting to turn golden.
Remove crust from oven and layer in pear slices. Top with ¼ cup of sugar. Return to oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until pears are beginning to caramelize.
Remove from oven, gently pour custard over top and return to cooler oven (350°F) for another 20 minutes or until custard has risen and starts to turn golden brown. Cool on a cooling rack and serve with crème Anglaise.
Crème Anglaise
 6 egg yolks
 2/3 cup sugar
 1 ½ cups hot milk
 1 Tablespoon vanilla
 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
 2 Tablespoons rum
Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a heavy bottomed sauce pan. Continue beating until the mixture is light and fluffy and pale yellow. Slowly stir in the hot milk to prevent the sauce from curdling.
Heat over low heat and stir slowly. So not overheat the sauce, or the eggs will scramble. Continue to stir while the sauce thickens. It will be done when it coats the wooden spoon with a light creamy layer, thick enough to hold when you draw a line across the back of the spoon. Remove from heat.
Stir in the vanilla and rum. Refrigerate until needed.

Orange Custard w/ Orange Caramel Sauce
(adopted from Indian Home Cooking by Suvir Saran and Stephanie Lyness’s Susan Aunty’s Orange Flan)
Custard:
 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
 1 ½ cups half-and-half
 4 large eggs
 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
 2 tablespoons orange marmalade
 Zest of 1 orange, grated
 ¼ cup orange liqueur, Contreau or Gran Marnier
 Orange Caramel Sauce (see below)
Preheat the oven to 350°F. and remove all but the bottom oven rack.
Prepare a rectangular loaf pan by lining it with parchment paper.
Combine the condensed milk, half-and-half, eggs, cream cheese, marmalade, and orange liqueur in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the custard mixture into the prepared loaf pan.
Put the loaf pan into a 11×13” baking dish and then put the baking dish into the preheated oven. Pour hot tap water to almost fill the baking dish. Bake until the custard is just set but still jiggles when shaken and a skewer stuck in about 1 inch from the edge comes out clean, about 1 hour. 25 minutes. Carefully lift the loaf pan out of the baking dish. Turn off the oven and let the water in the baking dish cool a little before moving it. Refrigerate the custard to chill completely.
To serve, run a knife around the edge to loosen the flan. Overturn a serving plate and remove the parchment paper. Cut the custard into slices, drizzle the orange caramel sauce over the top and serve.
Orange Caramel Sauce:
 1 Cup sugar
 ¼ cup water
 ½ cup orange juice
 2 tablespoons butter
 ¼ cup cream
Put the sugar and water into a heavy bottomed sauce pan. Bring to a simmer and stir until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil and cook until the syrup caramelizes to a deep brown (washing down the sides of the pan if necessary to keep sugar crystals from forming).
Remove from heat and stir in the butter. The caramel will foam up, so be careful and use a long handled wooden spoon to stir. Once the foaming has subsided, stir in the cream and then the orange juice. Return to heat and cook until reduced to the desired consistency.

Best Ever Chocolate Torte with Black Cherry Sauce
(Adapted from Hudson’s Restaurant in Vancouver Washington)
Chocolate Torte:
 12 ounces dark chocolate (I prefer Ghiradeli chocolate)
 3 ounces butter (6 Tablespoons)
 1 ounce brandy
 1 ounce espresso
 4 eggs
 2/3 cup sugar
 2/3 cup cream
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare a 9” cake pan by lightly buttering it, placing a circle of parchment on the bottom and then dusting the sides with flour and removing the excess.
Place the chocolate, brandy, butter and espresso into a microwave safe bowl and microwave on 50% power for 2 minutes, stir and heat again on 50% power. Stir again until combined. Heat again if needed. Let cool.
Whip the eggs and sugar until light and cream, about 10 minutes.
Whip the cream into stiff peaks.
Add the chocolate mixture slowly to the eggs and stir continuously until combined. Be sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the cream and fold in, being careful to NOT deflate the cream. Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake 45-50 minutes until the center is set.
Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature. Place in freezer and freeze over night. Remove from cake pan, remove parchment from the torte and then top with the ganache.
Ganache Topping:
 8 ounces dark chocolate
 1 cup heavy cream
Heat the cream and chocolate in microwave on 50% for 2 minutes. Stir to combine. Repeat if necessary. Cool slightly before topping the torte.

Terra Madre Day – 2011

Tomato Bredie

(This recipe is from chef Intaba. Our Terra Madre version was made with generous donations of beef from Northwest Naturals, Aetherton Farm, also known as Flying A Limousin, and Gathering Together Farm, tomatoes from GTF, and potatoes from Denison Farm.)

Heat oil and butter in large pot. Dry meat well, then brown on all sides. Remove from pan.
In same pan, brown onions, stirring often to avoid scorching. Add tomatoes, spices, potatoes and browned meat.

Lower heat and simmer, partially covered, until meat is tender. If you like, potatoes may be added later, to allow meat extra time to soften. Add tomato paste, salt and pepper to taste.

****************Peanut Sauce

(Also from chef Intaba. We served it with collard greens from Denison Farm.)

Berbera seasoning can be purchased at specialty stores (in Portland) or you can make up a batch of your own. There are several recipes available online. Here’s an approximation of what we did at Terra Madre Day: ½ tablespoon of cayenne pepper, 2 tablespoons of paprika, and ½ tsp each of cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and fenugreek. Our version was toned down for western palates; many recipes for Berbera reverse the proportions of cayenne and paprika, for a truly fiery dish. But this is too hot for most Americans, even those who “love hot food”.

************Futari (Tanzanian Coconut Squash)

(This recipe is from the old Africa News Cookbook—a great source of recipes from all over Africa! We used generously donated sweetmeat squash from Denison Farm.)

Split and seed the squash. Roast them at 350 for 30-45 minutes, until soft. Let cool till cool enough to handle; peel squash and gently cut into chunks.

Warm butter and fry onions. Add ground cloves, salt, coconut milk, and cinnamon. Warm for 5 minutes to blend flavors. Add into the squash and heat together while stirring. Just before serving, you can add an extra squeeze of lemon and an extra ½ cup coconut milk to heighten the flavors.

********

Ugali/Papa/Sadza (Corn meal porridge–this is a ubiquitous African staple which has a different name in each local language.)

White corn meal*
Water
Salt

Measure three parts water to one part corn meal. Bring the water to a boil and add salt to taste. Slowly pour the dry corn meal into the boiling water, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon or whisk to ensure that it’s smooth. After pouring in most of the corn meal, stir continuously, cooking 20-25 minutes until stiff. Add a little more corn meal if it’s not thick enough. Eventual porridge should be stiff enough to pick up a piece with your hand and dip it in the sauce.

* White corn meal is a little hard to find in the US, but it happens to be available currently at Winco. You could possibly make this dish with yellow corn meal, such as polenta, but it would taste quite different.